By Justin Rushia
After a season that ended with a dramatic loss in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs, the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team is more determined than ever to reclaim the SUNYAC championship and bring the title home to Cardinal Country.
“I just want to win,” senior forward Ikechukwu Ezike said. “I think that’s something we all have in common. We just want to win however it comes.”
Last season was a step in the right direction for Cardinal basketball. The 2023-2024 season marked Plattsburgh’s return to a winning record and its first playoff appearance since the 2018-2019 season, where the team was the runner up in the SUNYAC and made the NCAA tournament.
Head coach Mike Blaine believes the team is ready to take another step this season. To do that, consistency will be key for the Cardinals.
“We want to be more consistent day to day,” Blaine said. “The last couple of years, it took us a while to find our groove, so we hope to be a little sharper a little sooner.”
The Cardinals’ defense finished around the middle of the pack in the SUNYAC last season. They ranked third in defensive efficiency and defensive field goal percentage and sixth in points allowed. This season, Plattsburgh will try to hang its hat on the defense end of the court, and Blaine has emphasized its importance in practice.
“We are going to run teams out the gym,” senior guard/forward Jeremiah Love-Smith said. “In practice, it’s 45 minutes straight of drills where if you don’t get a stop or a certain amount of stops, you have to stay on that whole 45 minutes.”
The Cardinals are optimistic that a strong defense will create opportunities for their offense to thrive.
“The defense is going to open the offense. When we get defensive stops, we want to get fast breaks, so we can get good looks,” Ezike said. “It all starts with defense.”
Plattsburgh’s offense was led by now senior guard Kevin Tabb last season, who was the team’s top scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game and earning a spot on the Second Team All-SUNYAC.
Other significant contributors to the offense included Dylan Trombley, who averaged 11.7 points per game and led the team in total rebounds and three-pointers; Franklin Infante, who had an average of 9.8 points per game and topped the team in overall assists; and Ezike, who ranked second on the team in rebounds and was the closest active player on the roster trailing Tabb in total points.
This season, the Cardinals aim for a dynamic offensive strategy with a team-oriented attack featuring a multitude of players.
“I don’t think there’s just two or three guys that can produce,” Ezike said. “We’re definitely doing it by committee. I think everybody’s something that they can bring to the table,”
Four players from the 2023-2024 roster graduated: Willard Anderson Jr., Darren Wright, Tim Thomas and Trombley, who is now an assistant coach for the team.
Plattsburgh is returning 11 players from last year’s roster: seniors forward Orlando Dawkins, guard/forward Ezike, forward Ladan Graves, guard Infante, guard Matt Kone-Bradshaw, guard/forward Love-Smith, guard Tabb, guard Sasha Vidrini, juniors guard/forward Jeremy Jolly and guard AJ Williams Jr; and sophomore center Aidan McGuire.
The Cardinals are adding seven new players to their roster this season, including first-year players Jaiden Gladney, Colin Hartig and Nate Pondexter Jr., and transfers Irwayne Connell Jr., Damari Johnson, Wol Machteng and Kareem Welch.
“We’ve got a ton of options, and right now, we’re just kind of figuring out what we think is best for us and gives us the best opportunity to win,” Blaine said. “We’ve got way more roster flexibility and versatility than we’ve had in years past.”
Two of the newcomers played in New York junior colleges last season: sophomore forward Wol Machteng from NJCAA Division III Cayuga Community College and junior guard/forward Damari Johnson from NJCAA Division III Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Junior forward Connell Jr. last played college basketball at NJCAA Division III Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, from 2018 to 2019 and started at NCAA Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College in Orangeburg, New York, from 2017 to 2018.
Junior guard Welch was an NJCAA Division II All-American and All-Region XV Player of the Year when he last played at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, New York in 2021-22.
Each player on the 18-man roster brings a dynamic and unique skill set to the table. According to Blaine and Love-Smith, this situation allows the Cardinals to adjust their lineup to effectively match up against any team they face.
“There’s going to be a lot of times it’s going to be a game-to-game situational type alignment or lineup. Sometimes we may need a bigger, more physical lineup, and boom, there it is, but the next game might be a smaller, quicker lineup,” Blaine said. “I told all of our guys that they’ve got to make sure that they’re ready, regardless of circumstance, regardless of situation.”
Having such a large roster also leads to a highly competitive practice environment where players know they can’t take a day off because someone else is ready to take their spot, Blaine said.
“(Having so many players) It makes practice really competitive, but not competitive in a way where it’s starting to bring animosity. More competitive in the way of holding someone accountable to the same standard you have for yourself,” Ezike said.
Plattsburgh will have a conference schedule of 18 games, playing each SUNYAC team twice.
With the departure of Brockport and Geneseo from the SUNYAC, the conference replaced them with Canton and Morrisville from the North Atlantic Conference. Morrisville could pose an early threat in the SUNYAC. Last season, Morrisville had an overall record of 20-5 and were 13-1 in the NAC.
The Cardinals will start their journey toward a championship with seven non-conference games, including one against Division I University of Vermont on Nov. 27.
Plattsburgh’s first matchup this season will be a home game against Skidmore College on Friday, Nov. 8.
“We just have to be able to compete with the best of them,” Love-Smith said. “Nothing’s going to be given to us. We have to go and take it.”
